There’s nothing quite like a splash of perfume to make me feel a little girly. Perfume is a fine mist layer of personality. I love wearing perfume and I have a staple I’ve been using for over 20 years: Red Door by Elizabeth Arden. When I started using it, the perfume was packed as per the left, and now the bottle has a new sleeker design.
I still love and wear Red Door. It’s affordable too. However, it’s nice to mix it up and wear different perfumes. I have recently enjoyed Ariana Grande perfumes (Sweet Like Candy and Moon) and also the variety from L’Occitane (which you can get in travel size if you want to try some out).
I read a blog post from Smaggle about finding a signature fragrance (great tips) and it reminded me of an interview I did with international perfume expert Chandler Burr in 2011. When I had the opportunity to chat to Chandler Burr, I asked him about his top recommended perfumes to try. I’ve compiled a list with his commentary (that I transcribed from our interview) if anyone else wants to raid the perfume section and do a test.
About Chandler
Perfume expert Chandler Burr is the Curator of the Centre of Olfactory Art the the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. We were primarily talking about home fragrance, which was fascinating. However, I was interested to hear about Chandler’s favourite fine fragrances. When I asked Chandler where to start when looking for a new fragrance, he said it comes down to these two things:
- Trying different perfumes
- Asking for recommendations from others
Chandler gave me a wonderful list of fragrances and a glimpse into what makes them special.
Frederic Malle
Frederic Malle: What he does is goes to the best perfumers in the world and says, “I want you to create a perfume that you dream of, and we are going to work on it. Use any amount of money that you want.”
I’ve had a look at many of the Frederic Malle perfumes and they do sound amazing (and a few are featured in this list). When I was exploring the website, I noticed this handy chart to give you an idea of signatures of the different fragrances. You can order a sample set of 3 perfumes to try which is a good idea before you commit.
Lipstick Rose
Lipstick Rose by Frederic Malle: It’s very fun. It is the smell of rose-scented lipstick. It’s absolutely ingenious.
This is the top of my wish list!
L’eau D’Hiver
L’eau D’Hiver by Frederic Malle: This one is beautiful and very subtle. It’s like the smell of the fog in San Francisco, absolute silence, with a very, very faint astringent aspect of the unseen eucalyptus trees. It’s brilliant. It’s absolutely brilliant.
Tom Ford Black Orchid
Tom Ford Black Orchid: It’s strong. You just don’t use a lot. Put a little on and wait 10 minutes for it to calm down.
Missoni by Missoni
Missoni by Missoni: You will love this! This perfume is a hazelnut gnash chocolate, surrounded by fruit floral potpourri and it’s incredible.
Pleasures by Estee Lauder
Pleasures by Estee Lauder: It’s brilliant. Absolutely great.
Michael Kors Original
Michael Kors Original: It’s tuberose. It’s absolutely wonderful.
Marc Jacobs Original
Marc Jacobs Original: It’s like Michael Kors but it’s more of an invert floral that I think is very well done.
Marc Jacobs Lola
Marc Jacobs Lola: This is if you like a fruity floral. It’s more overt. It’s more of a statement.
Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana
Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana: It’s teriffic.
Chandler tells me “all of these are easy to wear”. The only potentially difficult one is Tom Ford — Black Orchid. The trick is to only use a very small amount.
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